Thursday, April 28, 2016

(( Photo clicked in October 1949 after shri kaul ( with a garland )
arrived from Stockholm ))

INTERNATIONAL EXPERT ON CONSTITUTIONAL AND PARLIAMENTARY MATTERS …

He was first secretary to Lok sabha and also secretary to constituent
Assembly of India . He retired as Secretary Lok sabha in 1964 and was later
nominated to Rajya sabha twice ; first in 1966 and then in 1970.

Born in kashmir , shri Kaul went to Cambridge to study Law and economics
and then moved to Allahabad where he practiced as advocate even when he had an
offer for joining as Faculty at Economics Department of Banaras Hindu
University .

In his career of more than 10 years as Advocate at Allahabad , he edited
the prestigious Allahabad law Journal ( 1927-1937 ) . At Allahabad , he also
came in close contact of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and Dr K N katju both of whom
were leading advocates and freedom fighters of the country .

Considered to be an authority on Parliamentary laws and procedures , Sh
Kaul edited some books on Parlimentary procedures.As secretary of constituent
assembly , he played a crucial role in framing the Articles of the
constitution. For this reason , he had the closest rapport with G V Mavalanker
first speaker of the constituent assembly.

Sh Ram Krishen Sadhu Adds on my Facebook Page :

“May's "Parliamentary Practice" was the Bible for regulating
the conduct of work in Legislatures almost globally till 1960. But it was
overtaken by Kaul-Shakdar when their Book on parliamentary practice and
procedure was published. Subsequently it became the final guide on the subject.
I have studied both these books in early sixtees and found the Kaul-Shakdar
treatise very exhaustive and unambiguous. MN Kaul was a legal luminary, a great
intellectual and a genuine Kashmiri to the core. Tried to help the Community and promote merit in his own style.”

A widely travelled man , Sh Kaul was considered a friend Philosopher and
guide by many Asian and African countries that were getting freedom from the
British rule and were in the process of drafting their own constitution.His
work and role in this area was duly appreciated by world leaders more
specifically by M Andre De Blonay secretary General of Inter parliamentary
Union .

During 1955- 1964 , he edited the Journal of Parliamentay Information
Govt Of India .His Book “Practices and Procedures of Parliament “ that he co-
authored with Shri Sham lal Shakhdhar in 1968 , remains a Monumental Treatise
of its kind .This Book is even put to use in British Parliament as a Guidance
for settling procedural issues .

About him Mr G V Mavalankar has said :

“ Mr kaul is Sir Erskine May of India and soon a time will come when
future writers of parliamentary practices and Procedures in UK will feel proud
to call themselves Mr.kauls of UK. "

Lal Ded’s Philosophy has a deep-rooted
impact on kashmiri psyche . It has remained ineradicable in spite of a time
lapse of about seven hundred years. Her
poetic message and austerities of
her personal life have created an in effaceable image
in the minds of every kashmiri that
remains unequaled to this day.

“ Lalla Ded
is the tallest representative of Piety and Graciousness of kashmiri Woman . Our History has not brought
forward any other Pious Woman who could
match her thought and sainthood . This is the reason why kashmiris across the
religious divide adore and respect her .
It is a fact that we have failed to give her a proper place . We have failed to
locate her on ground at a place where she was born and where spent most period of her life. ”

This is
what Mr M Y Taing Ex Secretary
Jammu And kashmir Academy of Art , Culture and languages said in a Book
release function in Jammu in 2015.

She
remains a spiritual Giant and a poetic gem of kashmir. Her poetic presentation
of the universal message of kashmir’s Shaiva Darshana , Trika and Dynamic Humanism remains beyond compare . And
through her verses , she is responsible for shaping contours of kashmiri language
and literature as well.The enormous Humanism of her Vaakhs is a dynamic force that has withstood the test of
the time and transcended all man made barriers . These VAAKHS are Like the
fresh Fragrant air that can be universally experienced . Like the rays of sun
that warm up every particle on this planet
or like the Midsummer shower that
gives relief to every creature from the scorching heat.

With so many Books on this Great saint poetess , it is not
surprising to find one more refreshing addition to this arena. This new book by
Prof. Tej Raina , follows a different
but focused Trajectory of evaluating
Laleshawari’s work in the light of Trika and Shaiv Darshana alone. It is
apparent that the author has put enormous
labour in compilation of this Book.
His study
of kashmiri language especially
its Phonetics, verbs and vowels is profound. Not that alone , he has also traced and
trailed their usage over a period of
time in arriving at correct words of some Vaaks. These words , for sure , have
got mutilated and distorted by oral usage spread over many centuries . I do not
find any previous author of
Laleshawari’s work going for this type of labour .Add to that , Prof. Tej Raina
studied Fundamentals of Trika and
Kashmir’s Glorious Shaiv Darshana from some original Texts. That has
proved of immense help to him in selecting Vaaks which could safely be assigned
to Lalleshawari .

If this learned author has changed some word or words in some Vaaks after a meticulous research , he
has definitely done a serious attempt to locate the original word without any
change in overall meaning and message of the Vaak. He believes that many words
in original Vaaks of lalleshwari stand corrupted with gradual change in spoken language and
influence of other languages . According to him , all these VAAKs have been
preserved by oral tradition only. The author has added a 38 page
chapter at the end titled DELIBERATIONS wherein he has ably justified
each and every change that he was
constrained to undertake . Say for example in Vaak 106 , he has changed the
word HEUND ( Hindu ) to BATAAH . He
believes that Bataah is the word that Lalleshwari has been using to address a kashmiri Pandit. Again , in Vaak 7 ,
he has changed the word LALITH
and replaced it with LOALUTH derived from sanskrit word LOLUPTAVA
meaning Greed. Similarly in Vaak 41 , he
has changed the words SAA’T and MUSS (
Persian Origin word meaning wine ) to
SATTAS ( Satya or Truth ) and MADH ( Wine
) . There are some more minor
changes in some VAAKs . In fact all
these minor changes have added clarity and focus to the Shaiva Darshana or Trika message contained in the existing Vaaks .

According to the author :

"* Out of about 258
Vaakhs that circulate in the name of Lalla Ded and occur in various
collections, Prof.Jay Lal Kaul selected 138 Vaakhs for his Book and even their
authenticity he is not prepared to " Vouch for". People have clubbed
some verses of Rupa Bhawani with Lalla Vaakhs.There are 35 verses that occur
both in the collections of Lal Ded's verses , and in noornamaas and Reshinamaas
of Sheikh Noor Ud Din or Nund Rishi, which include his Shrukhs. Three quatrains
of Azizullah Khan , a kashmiri poet of early 19th century have also been
ascribed to Lalleshwari by Rev. J.Hinton Knowles.Interestingly, one of these
quatrains has been translated by the great Indian translator A K Ramanujan in
the name of Lal Ded , and quoted as such by K. Sachchidanandan (Ex secretary
,Sahitya Academy) in one of his papers on women Poets of India."

The focus of the author has
been a qualitative pursuit in the light
of Shaiva Darshana and Trika and not a quantitative compilation and presentation of whatsoever is attributed to
the saint poetess that has often diluted her
core message .He has selected
only 127 Vaakhs which he feels convey her core
message . Others may not belong
to Lalla . That is what he feels . I have no reason to disagree. Even Late Moti
Lal Saqi would say so .His litmus test in selection of the Vaakhs is nothing
less than perfect. I say this line of
samad Mir’s poem “ Zugg Ta
Pro’nn kodun Faelli Falley “ or
“He separated Chaff from the grain “ for Tej Raina’s efforts in
selection of Vaakhs for this book.

For the author of the book
, the personality of Lalleshwari emerges only from her vaaks and he believes
the rest to be only intentional or unintentional myths woven by people without any supportive historical ,
documentary or other authentic evidence. He feels no need to comment on these
issues in the book .

Another reason why this work is different from all previous Books is that all the 127 Vaaks have been presented in kashmiri both in Devnagri and Nastalik script.
There is also an apt and to the point
Hindi Translation by the Author . He comes up as a perfect translator . This
rendition to Hindi verses by the author is the essence of his work . Add to
that the crisp and brief interpretation of each Vaak in the light of Trika and Shaiva Darshana is
spectacular. I quote some vaaks
translated to Hindi by the author..

I quote five Vaaks
dealt in the book and translated beautifully by the author to Hindi ……

(1)

Gagan Ti Chhukh Tcheii
Bhootal Chhukh Tcheii

Tcheii Chhukh Raathh Ta
Dya’n Tche Pawan

Aragh TchandunTcheii Posh
Poe’nn Tcheii

Tcheii soruaai Kyaah Kathh
Laagan

Hindi rendering by the
author ..

Tum Gagan Tum Hi Dharaatal

Raat Din Tum, Tum Marru

Aragh Chandan Tum kusum Jal

Kis ko Kyaa Arpan karuun

(2)

Shiv Va keeshiv va Ajan Va

Kamalaj Naathh naav Dharaan
Yuuh

Me abal Kaastan Bhav varj
Va

Su Va, Su Va, Su Va, Soo…

Hindi rendering by the
author ..

Voh shiv keshav Voh Nitya
ajan

Voh Kamalaj Naathh Ka
Sanghya-dhar

Mujh Abla Ko Bhav varj hare

Bus Voh, Bus Voh ,Voh eik,
Voh Har

(3)

Deev Vatta Tai Divvar Vatta

Heirri Ta Bo’nna Chhuyii
Ikkwaath

Pooz kathh Karakh Ha’tta
Bhatta

Kar Manuss ta pawanuss
Sanghaath

Hindi rendering by the
author ..

Dev Shila , Deewar Shila Ki

Ou’pper Neeche Ekaa Eikk

Kis Ko Pooj Rahaa hai
Pandit

Munn aur Pawan Ko Kar Na
Eikk

(4)

Kuss Ma’rri Taai Kassu
Maarey

Ma’rri kuss ta maaran kass

Har Har Traavith Ghar Ghar
Ka’rrey

Adh’a Suyii Ma’rri Ta
Maaran Tuss..

Hindi rendering by the
author ..

Kaum Maregaa aur Kis-ka

Maarey Kaun Kissey Marey

Har Har Chho’rr ke Ghar
Ghar Phirrey

Vahii Marrey ouss ko Maarey
..

(5)

Niyam Karr’yothh Garbhaa

Tcheituss Peyyii kar’baa

Maran’a Bron’thaai
Marr Baa

Zinda Zuvaaai Ta’r Baa

Hindi rendering by the
author ..

Garbhaashay mein Thaan
Liyaa thaa

Kaise Bhoole Yaad Karo

Marne se Pehle hi mar jaa

Jeete ji hi Paar Taro

Spread in about 350 pages ,
the author has also annexed Pronunciation key for Vowels in 10 pages at the beginning apart from an scholarly
29 page Preface and an illuminatingly worded 9 page Prelude. The appendix at
the end carries images of pages from
Manuscripts like Lallavakya Bhashaya , hand written Lalla Vaakhs
prepared by Pt. Amar Nath Handoo and 138 verses transcribed in Roman script ( used
by Prof Jaya lal kaul ).

Tej Raina’s focus has been
to convey Trika and shaiva philosophy of Lalleshwari. This is in line with Prof
B N Parimoo , Dr. S S Toshakhani and
Prof Jay Lal Kaul’s approach to Lalla Vaakhs.

The Black cover page for the book has been designed by the author . And suddenly from black emerge the Echoes
from Pandrethan in the shape of Lalla Vaaks. For the author , who is also an Artist , Black conveys the Profoundness of Shaiv
Darshana’s Nothingness ( a concept that
Laleshwari gave to kashmiri poetry and which was carried down by Muslim Sufi poets
as well ). From this Nothingness alone emerges something profound ,
timeless and unique that holds this Universe .

For sure , Prof. Tej Raina knows his subject and certainly knows much about Trika and kashmir’s Shaiva
Darshana . Readintg the Explanatory notes given against each Vaak by the author, one becomes familiar with some
basic concepts of Trika and Shaiv Darshana
You get to know meaining of MAYA , PURUSA , PRKARITI ,ANTAKARNAS, BIMBA , PRATIBIMBA , PARA ,PARAMASIVA, VAIKHARI
STATE ,KAALA, NIYATI, JAGADANANDA,PANCH
,PRANA ,SAMVIT , UDANA , SAMANA ,APANA ,SASIKALA ,MULADHAARA CHAKRA
,TURYA STATE and so many other terms so
essential to understand the real meaning of Lalla Vaaks . Unique in all
aspects. The book is refreshingly
engrossing for every lover of Lalla’s Philosophy and poetic genius . A work that enthuses , touches and knocks the
mind. Lalla the sufferer , Lalla the Guru and lalla the Philosopher come alive
in three segments of the book titled UNFOLDING , FRAGRANCE OF THE BLOOM and
DELIBERATIONS .